BENNINGTON — A Readsboro woman is facing criminal charges after police said she assaulted a Vermont State Police trooper who came to check on her welfare Sept. 5 and found she had a blood alcohol content of 0.37 percent.

Jenny Girardi, 37, was arraigned Monday in Bennington criminal court on misdemeanor charges of simple assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. She pleaded innocent to the charges and was released without bail.

In an affidavit, Trooper Lauren Ronan said she went to Girardi’s home around 6:45 p.m. Sept. 5 after getting a call from the father of Girardi’s 3-year-old daughter. The father said he was concerned about his daughter because when he spoke to Girardi, she sounded “very intoxicated.”

Ronan said when she arrived at Girardi’s home, Girardi was “slurring her speech and was not making sense.” Ronan said Girardi first told her that her daughter was with Girardi’s father but when Ronan asked if she could check the child’s room, Girardi “began pulling blankets and sheets off of the bed” and “acted surprised” when the child wasn’t there.

During her arraignment, Jeffrey Rubin, the attorney who represented Girardi said that activity may have been “sarcasm” on his client’s part.

Ronan said Girardi’s boyfriend arrived at the home while she was there and told her that while Girardi drinks alcohol he had never seen her “that bad.”

In the affidavit, Ronan said she became concerned that Girardi was going to hurt her (Ronan), herself (Girardi) or her boyfriend, who she was blaming for Ronan’s presence.

According to Ronan, Girardi agreed to provide a breath sample but became agitated and assaulted Ronan when Ronan attempted to obtain the breath sample. Girardi also resisted when Ronan attempted to put her into handcuffs, Ronan said.

After Girardi was placed in Ronan’s cruiser, she gave the breath sample which tested at 0.37 percent for Girardi’s blood alcohol level, more than four an a half times the legal limit of 0.08 percent for driving in Vermont.

From the Vermont State Police barracks in Shaftsbury, Ronan was able to confirm that Girardi’s daughter was with Girardi’s father.

Rubin didn’t deny that Girardi had been drinking but said she had allowed herself to indulge because she “had a rare day off from work” and didn’t have her child in her care on that day.

Judge Nancy Corsones, however, expressed strong concerns about the alleged level of intoxication and what it could mean for Girardi and her future appearance in court.

“The ultimate failure to appear is death and we don’t want that to happen at all,” Corsones said.

Corsones also urged Girardi to “open up her eyes” to the possibility that she had an alcohol problem.